National Bank of Canada FI Increases Holdings in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) by 75.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 437,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 187,715 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.12% of CME Group worth $96,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in CME Group by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,489,000 after acquiring an additional 5,273 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc grew its position in CME Group by 35.6% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 987,668 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $194,571,000 after buying an additional 259,152 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in CME Group during the second quarter worth about $264,000. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in CME Group by 6.2% in the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In other CME Group news, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total transaction of $1,019,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,053 shares in the company, valued at $6,131,291.92. This trade represents a 14.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,811,681. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded down $6.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $239.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,162,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,070. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.56. CME Group Inc. has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on CME Group from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on CME Group from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $224.47.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.